Embedded clinical trials are becoming the standard model for sponsors who need Phase II and III studies to run inside the places patients already receive care, rather than inside a standalone research building. For pharmaceutical sponsors and CRO clinical operations leaders, choosing the right embedded clinical trials partner determines whether a study hits its enrollment timeline or falls behind it.
This guide compares 7 organizations building embedded, community based research capacity in the United States, and explains what to look for when evaluating clinical trial partners for your next protocol.
What Makes a Clinical Trial Partner Truly Embedded
Not every organization that claims to run embedded clinical trials actually integrates research into routine care. A genuinely embedded model has three characteristics.
- Research staff work inside existing primary care or specialty clinics, not inside a separate building built only for trials
- Patients are identified through their normal care visits, not through cold outreach or paid advertising alone
- The clinical research integration is durable across multiple studies, not assembled for a single protocol and dissolved afterward
This distinction matters because sponsors often discover, midway through a trial, that a site labeled as a community site is actually a freestanding research clinic with no real connection to routine care research happening around it.
Why Embedded Clinical Trials Improve Recruitment and Real World Evidence
When research is embedded into routine care, three things happen at once. Screening becomes continuous instead of event based, because coordinators see eligible patients during normal visits. Retention improves, because patients stay connected to a care team they already trust. And the data generated looks more like real world evidence, because the population enrolled resembles the population that will actually use the treatment after approval.
The FDA’s real world evidence framework reflects this shift, and sponsors are increasingly asking clinical trial partners to demonstrate how their sites connect to routine care, not just how many patients they can enroll.
The 7 Embedded Research Partners Sponsors Are Evaluating in 2026
1. FOMAT Medical Research
FOMAT operates as an Integrated Research Organization and Site Management Organization, embedding multilingual, community based research capacity inside clinics across multiple regions. Sponsors evaluating FOMAT’s clinical trial services get centralized recruitment data, bilingual coordinators, and site management support built for diverse enrollment. Learn more about FOMAT’s sponsor and CRO support model.
2. Velocity Clinical Research
Velocity Clinical Research operates a large network of company owned research sites across the United States and Europe, combining in house site operations with a standardized technology platform. Sponsors often evaluate Velocity for its scale and consistency across a multi site network. Visit Velocity Clinical Research for their current site list.
3. Javara
Javara focuses on integrating clinical research directly into health system and physician practice workflows, positioning research as a natural extension of patient care rather than a separate service. This model is one of the more direct examples of clinical research integration into routine care research settings. Visit Javara to review their health system partnerships.
4. Elligo Health Research
Elligo Health Research works with community physicians and health systems to bring trials into existing practices, using its technology platform to manage site startup and regulatory support. Sponsors evaluating decentralized clinical trials often compare Elligo’s practice based model against traditional site networks. Visit Elligo Health Research for their practice network details.
5. Care Access
Care Access runs a decentralized and mobile research model designed to bring trials closer to patients, including community outreach and site deployment in areas with limited existing research infrastructure. This approach is frequently discussed alongside decentralized clinical trials as an alternative to fixed site models. Visit Care Access for more on their mobile research units.
6. Circuit Clinical
Circuit Clinical partners with health systems to embed research coordinators and study operations inside existing clinical departments, aiming to make trial participation part of a patient’s normal care pathway. Visit Circuit Clinical for their health system partnership model.
7. ObjectiveHealth
ObjectiveHealth, affiliated with Vanderbilt University Medical Center, embeds research directly into primary care practices, focusing on bringing trials to patients through the physicians who already manage their care. Visit ObjectiveHealth for details on their primary care research network.
How to Evaluate Embedded Clinical Trials Partners
Sponsors comparing clinical trial partners for an embedded model should ask the same core questions regardless of which organization they are evaluating.
- Is the coordinator physically embedded in the clinic day to day, or brought in only during study visits
- How is the partner’s network reflected in past enrollment data, particularly for diverse and multilingual populations
- Does the partner maintain the relationship with the clinic and community between studies, or does the connection end when a protocol closes
- Can the partner report recruitment data in near real time, so underperforming sites can be addressed before a milestone is missed
These questions separate organizations that are genuinely practicing routine care research from those using embedded language as marketing.
Decentralized Clinical Trials vs Embedded Clinical Trials: What Sponsors Should Know
The two terms are often used interchangeably, but they describe different things. Decentralized clinical trials reduce the need for patients to travel to a site at all, often using telehealth visits, home health nursing, and direct to patient drug shipment. Embedded clinical trials instead place the research inside a site the patient already visits for their regular care.
Many partners, including several listed above, blend both approaches. Sponsors should ask specifically which elements of a study are decentralized, which are embedded, and which still require an in person academic center visit, since the answer changes site selection, monitoring plans, and patient support needs. The ClinicalTrials.gov registry is a useful reference point for seeing how current studies describe their site and visit structure.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are embedded clinical trials?
Embedded clinical trials place research staff and study activity inside existing primary care or specialty clinics, so patients can be identified and screened during their normal care visits instead of through a separate, standalone research site.
How is clinical research integration different from a standard research site?
Clinical research integration means the trial becomes part of the clinic’s regular workflow and physician relationships, rather than operating as a separate service that happens to be located nearby.
Are embedded clinical trials the same as decentralized clinical trials?
No. Decentralized clinical trials reduce the need for site visits through telehealth and home based visits. Embedded clinical trials keep the visit local but integrate it into a clinic the patient already uses for care.
Why do embedded clinical trials produce better real world evidence?
Because the patients enrolled through routine care visits more closely resemble the general population that will eventually use the approved treatment, compared to patients recruited only through advertising for a single study.
What should sponsors look for in clinical trial partners?
Sponsors should look for a durable presence inside the clinic, a track record with diverse and multilingual populations, and the ability to report recruitment data quickly enough to act on it during the trial, not after it closes.
Partner With FOMAT for Embedded Clinical Trials
FOMAT’s community based, multilingual research network is built specifically for sponsors who need embedded clinical trials with real recruitment data behind them. Contact FOMAT to discuss site feasibility for your next Phase II or III protocol, or explore FOMAT’s community clinic locations to see where embedded capacity already exists.